Sports

Cañon City Tigers to visit 3-point shooting D'Evelyn Jaguars

By Brandon Hopper

hopperb@canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
02/27/2014 04:33:12 PM MST

Amy Solis guards Haley Millard during the Cañon City Tigers' game against the Delta Panthers in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday in the Tiger Dome. The Tigers will travel for a 6:30 p.m. game Friday at D'Evelyn. (Brandon Hopper / Daily Record)

Every team that plays against D'Evelyn knows what the Jaguars will do. No one completely stops it, and only four teams have beaten them.

There's a reason the Jaguars are a No. 2 seed in the Class 4A playoffs. They stick to what they do, and they do it well enough.

D'Evelyn has attempted 609 3-pointers this season. That's not even in the same vicinity as Frederick, which has the second most attempts with 378.

"When you're able to put 600-and-some 3s up, you're doing it against everybody," Tigers coach Dan Heath. "We know they're going to get their 3-point shots off, we just want to have them be contest 3-pointers, so they're not wide open looks."

The teams will meet in a second-round game at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Denver. No. 7 seed Canon City earned the spot by beating No. 10 seed Delta on Tuesday. D'Evelyn earned a first-round bye.

Pueblo West will play Palisade at 3 p.m. Friday at D'Evelyn. The winners will play each other in the same gym at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Jaguars have taken 721 shots from 2-point range, so about 46 percent of their tries are from afar. For perspective, the Tigers shot 261 3-pointers this year.

Senior Malia Shappell has taken the most. She's 47 of 146 this year and is the team's leading scorer at 14.3 points per game. All five players on the floor at any time seem to have the green light to hoist it.

The Jaguars make 26 percent of their tries. Of their four losses this season, two were against Class 5A powers Grandview and Poudre, one was against fellow No. 2 seed Elizabeth and one came to Evergreen (16-8). Against Evergreen, the team with the worst record of the four, the Jaguars shot just 14 percent from 3-point range. In wins against Golden and Cherokee Trail, D'Evelyn made 12 percent from that distance.

"They're capable of shooting themselves out of the game, too," Heath said. "We're going to contest every 3-point shot that we can, make it tough. If you're going to hit a 3-point shot, it's going to be with a hand in your face."

If you go

Who: No. 7 Canon City @ No. 2 D'Evelyn

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday

Where: D'Evelyn High School, 10359 West Nassau Ave., Denver

More info: The winner will advance to play the Pueblo West-Palisade winner at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

It's easy to say that, but two years ago when the Tigers' season ended in the same gym as Friday's game, the Jaguars beat the Tigers 67-42. They were 7 for 24 from 3-point range in that game.

The Tigers have struggled this year in game against good teams, but they appear to be turning a corner recently. They beat No. 3 seed Pueblo West in the regular-season finale, then handled No. 10 seed Delta with ease on Tuesday.

"I love the way our girls are playing right now," Heath said. "They're playing for each other, they're attacking for each other. ... It showed up against Pueblo West, and I thought they did a good job again with it against Delta.

"I knew we had a run in us, I knew we were yet to play our best basketball this season."